


The Two of Them

by SunnyDear



Series: Birthday fics [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-04-13
Packaged: 2018-03-22 17:16:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3737077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnyDear/pseuds/SunnyDear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Emma and Killian meet while clubbing, and Emma enlists Killian's help for her family dinner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Two of Them

**Author's Note:**

> This was a birthday present for hiseyestellnolies on Tumblr - happy birthday dear Alet! <3

The two of them met in October when a raging drunk Killian bumped – quite literally – into the slightly tipsy Emma at the bar. She spilled her cocktail all over her dress, and he smirked an apology which was marred by his next statement of how much better that fabric looked, opaque and close-clinging. Under the heavy pulse of the electric bass, Killian offered to buy her another drink and asked her to dance in the same, vodka-slurred sentence. With a hint of a grin, she replied that she didn’t drink or dance with people who are already drunk. And that was the end of that.  
~*~*~  
It was ludicrous that, in a city as big as New York, they could ever casually meet again. But that they did. The two of them came face to face once more when, at the beginning of November, at the same bar, Emma coming out ran – still quite literally – into Killian going in. Her face was flushed, her eyes over-bright, and her steps ever so slightly unsteady in her black heeled boots. She remarked that the tides have turned, and offered to let him walk her home. He replied with a straight face that he didn’t make a habit of escorting women who were already drunk, but offered her his arm anyway. The two of them meandered through the streets of New York, and Killian swore she was taking him on a wild goose chase until Emma pulled him to a stop in front of a street filled with chic looking apartment buildings.  
“There you go, Swan, home safe and sound.”  
“Hmm,” Emma responded with a coy grin. She didn’t remember telling him her name. “For now. Maybe you have body parts in your fridge and I’m next.”  
“Go home, Swan, you’re drunk.”  
“Nice meeting you too!” Emma called after him.  
“Always a pleasure!” Killian graced her with a mocking bow.  
~*~*~  
The two of them met each other, both parties sober, once more a few mornings later as Killian strolled down the street, coffee in one hand and a briefcase in the other, just as Emma was in the lobby opening her mailbox.  
“Hey, hey! Hey!” Emma forced her way out of the slow-reacting automatic doors and raced after him. He turned, and his eyes lit up.  
“Swan! Fancy seeing you here.”  
“I live here, as you very well know.”  
“Aye, so I do.”  
“Are you stalking me?”  
“Well what a rude question. I’m on my way to work.”  
“And where’s work?”  
“Are you stalking me?”  
“No!” Emma replied far too quickly. A roughish grin split Killian’s face, and he pointed with his coffee vaguely into the distance.  
“Try over there, Swan.”  
“Right…” Her Emma eyed him up and down, at a loss for words. The impulse which had made her race after him (with sweatpants and uncombed hair, no less) had vanished, leaving her feeling quite silly. “Well, I’ll… leave you to it.”  
“Aye.”  
Just as he turned to leave, she called after him again.  
“Hey, what’s your name?”  
“Jones. Killian Jones.”  
“I’m Emma Swan.”  
“I know!” He tossed over his shoulder, still walking, and Emma could hear the smile on his face. She went back inside, the ghost of a grin on hers.  
~*~*~  
The two of them started dating when, mid-December, Emma raced after Killian as he passed her building and asked him out for Christmas dinner. It wasn’t actually, you know, a date, she hastily explained. Her parents invited her to Christmas dinner every year, and recently were getting worried about her lack of relationships. She wanted to pacify them by bringing someone, that’s all. Not a date date. He accepted, and continued on his way to work.  
Emma, wearing a red dress she knew Mary Margaret would interpret as festive, opened the door to Kilian in a cheerful scarlet Christmas vest under his thick coat. The two of the chuckled at how much they looked like a couple. He was the first to offer to help David stoke up the fire, and made Mary Margaret laugh with the story of how Emma asked him out by chasing after him on the street (which was true, after all). He sat beside her on the sofa, cosily close, their hands just touching beside them. He even dropped a kiss on the top of her head while David and Mary Margaret pretended not to be looking. She laughed at his jokes and twined her fingers with his. They avoided each other’s eyes across the dinner table. Emma’s heart skipped a beat when David, appearing in utter seriousness, asked Killian about his prospects.  
“He’s only joking Killian, Emma. David, tell them you’re only joking.” Mary Margaret kicked her husband under the table. He responded by continuing to peer at Killian.  
“Am I joking?”  
“Of course you are!”  
“Right, yeah… Only joking.” He cracked a smile, and offered to refill Killian’s brandy.  
~*~*~  
The two of them became friends when, in return, Emma went with Killian to his work party a few weeks later. Between beers on the balcony, Emma returned the jests of “Killy’s finally picked up a gal he likes!” with “Actually I was the one who picked him up”, and pecked him on the cheek next to the punch bowl. Killian finally got that dance, and the two of them participated in the wildly competitive trivia contest. Amidst the two of the laughing until they couldn’t breathe, what with Emma reeling off the names of the seven dwarves without batting an eyelid (“Sleepygrumpysneezybashfulhappydopeydoc”) and Killian’s victorious Jack Sparrow impression, they won the “Movie magic” category and claimed a bottle of rum.  
He walked her home again, and split the bottle of rum over her kitchen table as the honking of taxis and pulse of nightclubs blew in through the open window. They jokingly made plans for next Christmas.  
“If we’re not careful, my mom’s gonna start knitting you Christmas sweaters.” Emma ran a painted fingernail across the rim of her wine glass. The final serving of rum gave her the audacity to ask what she had been wondering.  
“Killian, a lot of people said they were happy you had moved on tonight. Why?”  
He gave a half smile and looked down, his eyes following the top of her finger as she fiddled with her glass.   
“I lost someone, love. A long time ago.” The words seemed reluctant to leave his tongue.   
“Oh. I’m…Killian I had no idea, I’m so sorry.”  
“Don’t be, love.”  
Their breathing suddenly seemed very loud in the confined space. Killian politely excused himself. They thanked each other and shook hands formally as he stepped out the door.  
“I guess I’ll see you around?”  
“I guess you will.”  
“You’re quite the actress, Swan. Thank you for the first family Christmas I’ve had in a long time.”  
“So are you, Killian. You’re welcome”  
And just like that, with their right hands still clasped tight in the doorway, they leaned close, and their lips touched.  
He never quite got around to leaving that night.  
At that point, the two of them started dating for real.  
~*~*~  
The two of them got engaged when, two Christmases later, Emma opened her eyes on Christmas Eve morning to the glimmer of an emerald in the morning sun.   
“I was starting to think you’d never wake up, Swan. My hand was getting sore.” Killian complained. Emma pulled him close for a kiss, and he tangled one hand in her hair while the other slipped the ring onto her index finger.  
Relaying his prospects to David was the beginning of everything that followed.


End file.
